I was recently emailing back and forth with John Horn, author of several Civil War books on the Siege of Petersburg, and he let me know that he is working with Savas Beatie to produce an updated version of his look at the Siege of Petersburg’s Fourth Offensive in 1864. The original, The Petersburg Campaign: The Destruction of The Weldon Railroad: Deep Bottom, Globe Tavern, and Reams Station: August 14-25, 1864, was published by H. E. Howard. John has been working for 25 years collecting more information on the battle, and he plans a major revision of the book combined with Savas Beatie’s typically excellent battle maps. I’m looking forward to this one.
After emailing Ted Savas to get his take, Ted revealed that Savas Beatie has major, major plans for the Siege of Petersburg in 2014, the 150th anniversary of the siege. Other books Savas Beatie hopes to publish or republish on the Siege in 2014 include (please remember none of this is set in stone, so don’t blame me or the publisher if any of these fail to make it):
- Summer/Fall 2014: A “sesquicentennial revised (and slightly expanded) edition” of Richard Sommers’ classic Fifth Offensive work Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg
- Summer/Fall 2014: A “sesquicentennial revised (and slightly expanded) edition” of Noah Andre Trudeau’s classic Petersburg overview The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864-April 1865
- Summer/Fall 2014: A revised edition of Glenn Robertson’s The Petersburg Campaign: The Battle of Old Men and Young Boys June 9, 1864
Last but not least, Volume 2 of the Ed Bearss/Bryce Suderow collaboration The Petersburg Campaign Volume 2: The Western Front Battles September 1864-April 1865 is on track to be sent to the printer in two weeks, so you should be able to purchase it soon. It’s going to be a good year for those of you who want to learn more about the Siege of Petersburg, and Savas Beatie plans to help you out.